NEW YORK, NY - MAY 03: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees breaks his bat as he hits a single in the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during a game at Yankee Stadium on May 3, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 700010634 less

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 03: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees breaks his bat as he hits a single in the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during a game at Yankee Stadium on May 3, 2017 in New York ... more

Photo: Rich Schultz

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NEW YORK, NY - MAY 03: Pitcher CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during a game at Yankee Stadium on May 3, 2017 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 700010634 less

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 03: Pitcher CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during a game at Yankee Stadium on May 3, 2017 in the Bronx borough of ... more

Photo: Rich Schultz

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Here comes Judge, and Gregorius too

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New York

Surrounded at his locker after another eye-turning performance, Aaron Judge thought for a few seconds when asked if he had ever been this hot at the plate.

"Maybe Tee-ball," he said, widening his smile.

The 6-foot-7 rookie sensation hit another long drive for his major league-leading 13th home run, singled to start the go-ahead rally and had the first three-hit game of his big league career, helping the New York Yankees rally from a four-run deficit to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-6 on Wednesday night.

"Judge has been out of this world," Yankees third baseman Chase Headley said, with only a bit of hyperbole.

Matt Holliday hit his 300th home run, a three-run shot in the first, and Brett Gardner helped spark his teammates by destroying a blue recycling bin in the dugout with four mighty cuts of his bat after he was called out on strikes by Bill Welke in the sixth.

"They'll probably fine me 15 or 20 bucks, and we'll get a new one the next homestand," Gardner said. "It felt good. It was a plastic trash can, so I was able to handle it pretty well. Better that than the cement wall."

Capping a 4-2 homestand that left the Yankees atop the AL East at 17-9, pinch-hitter Didi Gregorius drove in the go-ahead run in a three-run seventh with a comebacker that could have been an inning-ending double play but instead bounced off the glove of reliever Joe Biagini (0-1) for an infield single.

Steve Pearce's third homer in two days, a three-run shot, helped Toronto take a 4-0 lead against CC Sabathia after 16 pitches. The Blue Jays led 6-3 before Judge's two-run homer in the third, a 435-foot drive into the netting above Monument Park behind the center-field wall.

Selected the AL Rookie of the Month for April, Judge raised his average to .330 and has six homers in his past six games. He also has hit the second-most home runs through 26 games in Yankees history, one behind Alex Rodriguez in 2007.

"The good thing about him is you can tell from his demeanor and his attitude that he wants to improve, he wants to be better and he handles himself the right way, not only on the field but off the field," former Yankees captain Derek Jeter said in a video interview on the team's website. "So I'm a fan of his."

Those remarks touched Judge.

"It's incredible, especially a guy I looked up to for years growing up, to hear him say that," he said. "It's special. It's humbling."

Judge sparked the seventh-inning burst with a one-out single on a 1-2 off-speed pitch from Biagini. Judge took third on Headley's double and scored the tying run on Chris Carter's broken-bat single.